This is lanacster bold move by Airfix in choosing a fairly obscure version of the Lancaster. There are no stores provided for the bomb bay but Airfix provide suitable weapons as a separate accessory set. I find this product to have an excellent density and coverage. For the record Airfix provide the following parts options in this kit which define different versions of the Lancaster.

Instructions are set out in a 24 page A4 sized booklet with a separate A3 sized two page full colour guide and two decal options. I used just a hint of weathering by tracing the exhaust staining, mainly under the wings, with a blow over of well-thinned Tamiya Smoke X The demarcation line between the White and Black on the sides of the engine cowlings has a very distinctive swooping curve, so I made a stencil from 20thou plastic card to enable the masking on the eight panels to be trimmed to the same size and shape.

The Airfix Lncaster has been deservedly well received by modellers and this version maintains the good standard. My standard instructipns with these Lancasters is to lqncaster the turrets as separate kits, make, and paint and finish them to be incorporated into the build as it progresses.

The white colour scheme of the post war era is unusual and provides a dramatic contrast to the more dowdy night bombers in my collection.

The type gained a reputation for being reliable and some crews preferred the air cooled engines that were less vulnerable to flak damage. There is some scope to build up sub-assemblies for those who like to take that route. Back to the Main Page.

The bomb doors can be constructed open but no bombs are supplied, being offered in a separate accessory pack. There are two pages of colour three-views as a colour and decals placement guide. So the Lancaster II stands out from the norm by its unusual engines, by being the variant with the heaviest defensive armament and by introducing the bulged bomb bay. So there is plenty of scope for conversions or alternative finishes. Decals are provided for the flashy white F. Indeed Revell provides such a component in their 1: The engines were painted gunmetal with a dark wash to dirty them up a little.

Optional H2S radar scanner under the belly. Back to the Review Index Page. An A4 sized instruction book runs to 24 pages and steps of construction.

Airfix Instruction Sheets

It was to be March before the Mk. Much of the instructions relate to builder options and once a choice has been made I find it useful to go through the instruction book with a pen and strike out the sections that I will not need. With the dropping of Atomic bombs by US forces, there was no requirement for deployment but the near-new airframes were available to equip lancastter squadrons of a much-reduced RAF Bomber Airfox in the early years of peace.

As it is, when I came to the end a question remained.

Airfix 1/72 Lancaster , by Frank Reynolds

It comes packaged in the now familiar red-coloured stout Airfix box with dramatic CGI artwork on the lid. The fuselage windows are provided as clear strips, but I chose to omit these and install windows of Micro Kristal Kleer at the painting stage. The distinctive exhaust collector rings and hedgehog exhaust pipes were painted in Aairfix X Bronze finished with a wash of dirty thinners.

Back to the Review Index Page. The second is from No Sqn. Airfix have a good reputation for well researched colour schemes so should TW have such an intake or not? The wings and tail structures could be treated as sub-assemblies if required. Attention now turns to the wings and this concentrates the mind. Standard or paddle blade propellers. The decals went on without fuss and reacted well to Micro Sol and Set.

It was conceived for the Royal Air Force as a kind of insurance policy against the possibility of enemy action disrupting supplies, so an alternative source of power plants might be available. The fuselage windows were filled with Micro Kristal Klear, which I find to be a brilliant option, since there is no worry about masking off the tiny windows during construction. They are reasonably well detailed with sufficient internal brackets and framing and the gun barrels commendably thin. On each row, one cylinder has a small stub on its tip.

Airfix Instruction Sheets

The engine cowlings consist of two halves with a separate circular collector ring that features a cross-shaped inset strut to support the propeller shaft. The completed airframe was primed with Tamiya Ultra Fine White primer applied from a rattle can and a second coat of the same over the top and side surfaces as a finishing colour.

The lahcaster external aerials were added and two small windows in the fuselage spine were drilled out to be filled with Micro Kristal Kleer. insrtuctions

They would be added at the final finishing stage. The tape can be removed before the filler dries leaving a raised ridge of filler that, once set hard, can be gently lacnaster down to a smooth finish. Now the awkward kancaster, for the main gear legs must be added next and will stick out and dangle around for the whole of the rest of the build.

Then the upper and lower wing halves are glued together while trapping the spars and wheel wells inside. II has only previously been available via aftermarket conversion sets. This might be mistaken for a mould gate but it should not be removed since it serves as a spacer between the engine and the cowling.

Production of this variant was entrusted solely to the Armstrong Whitworth factory in Coventry. Mid upper turret or ajrfix plate.

The Avro Lancaster Mk. It works, and works well but a clear head and plenty of dry runs will pay dividends.